Ship stabilizing and rolling apparatus



00L 8, s MY 1,730,941

SHIP STABILIZING AND ROLLING APPARATUS Original Filed April 19. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet l Mom ta Oct. 8, 1929. s, MYERS 1,730,941

SHIP STABILIZING AND ROLLING APPARATUS Original Filed April 19. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 a VO /ab/G 60 0 6 1s Ig.EL I 55' LX 9i E: A a a awvoemtoz (Shim/d 6. @w-

, Oct. 8, 1929. s, MYERs 1,730,941

SHIP STABILIZING AND ROLLING APPARATUS Original Filed April 19. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 f 19.7, v I 87 89 37 92 V 1 V 95 "9a )0/ 95 a e mo 95 5 1 961 p1 j 96 .9/

O OQ GO noentoz Oct. 8, 1929.

Original Filed Ap x il 19. 1922 S. G. MYERS .SHIP STABILIZING AND ROLLING APPARATUS 4 sheets-sheet 4 Svwemtoz Meme/1 Patented Oct. 8, 1929 STATES PATENT OFFICE SHIlZ-RFIELD G. MYERS, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE Assisi:- MENTS, 'ro SPERRY oYRosoorn COMPANY, me, A CCRPOR-ATION or NEW YORK SHIP STABILIZING AIQ D ROLLING APPARATUS Application filed April 19, 1922, Serial No. 555,638. Renewed February 18, 1929.

This invention relates primarily to the stabilization of shi s, or other unstable objects and also has application to the rolling oi ships whenever .t'ound desirable.

I am aware that it has been proposed to stabilize or roll ships by a car or weight wl "ch is moved back and forth across the ship in a straight line, supposedly in synchronism with the ships roil, but such devices have heretofore proved unsuccessful, as far as I am aware, largely for the reason that no effective means have heretofore been devised to properly control the movements oi' said weight so as to keep it in synchronism at all times with the varying period and amplitude of the ships roll, nor has any satisfactory cos been constructed for bringing the weight to rest and accelerating it again as it reaches each end of its path of movement, so

go far as I am aware.

Cne of the objects of this invention is to eliminate entirely the necessity for bringing such weight to rest at each end of its path of movement, while another ob ect of the invention is to devise accurate and simple means for maintaining the car in the proper phase relation to the ships roll.

A further object ot the invention is to render such device capable. of operating eithor to i-ztabilize the ship or to roll the ship at the option of the navigator.

Further objects of the invention will beconic ap 'nirent as the description proceeds. "in to the drawings in whichv what I now consider to be the preferred forms of my invention are illustrated more or less diagrammatically,

Fig. 1 represents a transverse section through a ship showing how my movable weight may be mounted.

Fig. 2 is an endview of the weight or car as mounted on its trackway on the ship.

Fig. 3 is a plan view on a small scale of the car in its circular track.

Fig. 4 shows a modified shape of closed traclrfor the car.

I Fig. 5 is a detail of the brake used to hold the car stationary when not operating.

Fig. 6 is a wiring diagram showing how the car is controllcd in each of its various positions around the track by means of a small auxiliary or control gyroscope and track contacts.

Fig. 7 is a transverse section of the ship showing a modified form of revoluble weight.

Fig. 8 is a section on line 88 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a detail of the driving motor and connection 01 the revolublc weight.

Fig. 10 is a side view of the control gyroscope.

Fig. 11 is a wiring diagram showing the electrical control of the radially movable weight of Figs. 7 to 9.

As will be apparent on inspection of the drawings, I prefer to employ aclosed path of movement for a movable weight or car of a generally circular form, as shown in Figs. 3 and l. By this means the necessity of bringim the car to rest at each end of its trip across the boat is'entirely eliminated, so that the car may be revolved around the track at a substantially uniform speed as long as the period of roll of the ship remains constant.

lVhile it is appreciated that with a circular track, a slight pitching moment will be exerted by the car on the ship, the stability of aship is so great against pitching as compared to rolling, that this factor is practically negligible; If it is found desirable to reduce the pitching effect, the track may be made elliptical with its major axis across the ship (Fig. 4).

It is now well appreciated that although a ship has a definite period of roil under given conditions of loading, the actual period of roll encountered at sea is far from constant. In comparatively calm weather for instance, the ship may cease rolling entirely at irregular periods and start rolling on encountering a large wave or a succession of waves. Again, the waves encountered are seldom if ever, in the exact period of the ship and hence constantly either retard or accelerate the roll of the ship, with a resultant eflect on the period. The means employed by me for maintaining the weight in exact synchronism with the ships roll will now be described.

In the form shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the

movable weight comprises a heavy car 1,

mounted on a circular or substantially circular trackway 2, which extends equally on both sides of the fore and aft line 3 of the ship. As shown, the car may be mounted in any convenient position between decks or in the hold 3 of the ship. in view of the great weight of this car, which may be composed of solid blocks of iron or lead for instance, and in view of the possible severe rolling and pitching of the ship, I prefer to provide not only the usual pair of lower rails l, but an upper guide rail 6, so that there is no possibility of the car leaving the track. The usual flanged wheels 5 support the car on track a, while a double flanged wheel 6 runs on upper rail 6.

The car shown is driven by an electric motor 7, the shaft 107 or which is provided with a worm 8, meshing with a worm gear 9 on a transverse shaft 10, journalled on the car. Said shaft is provided with a pinion 11 meshing with a circular rack 12 between the rails l. The car is hence absolutely under the control of the motor 7 at all times and can go no faster or slower than the motor. The control currents may be led into the motor through a plurality of trolley wires 13, ll, 15 and 16 (Figs. 2 and 6), and the lower and upper rails l and 6.

For governing the speed and position of the car, I prefer to employ as above stated, a small control gyroscope which may be of substantially the same type as now employed for controlling the active type of gyroscopic stabilizers (see the U. S. patent to Elmer A. Sperry, No. 1,342,397, June 1, 1920). Such a gyroscope 17 is generally mounted for precession about a vertical axis 18 or other axis at an angle to the fore and at't line of the ship and with its spinnin axis 19 across the ship, so that on the smallest roll of the ship, the gyroscope will precess around said vertical axis and bring into action suitable means for controlling the movements of the weight. Such a gyroscope is usually centralized, i. e., held with its spinning action transverse to the ship as by weak sprin or springs 20 and :21. Limiting stops 2 and 23 are provided to limit the precession of the gyroscope. Contacts or other control means are also provided, so that different means are brought into operation for different positions oil the gyroscope about its precession axis. Thus, while the gyroscope is or near its central position, atrolley or brush 24, connected thereto contacts with a sector 25, while when the gyroscoy e is against stop 22, the arm 2% carrying the trolley makes contact with point 26 and when the gyroscope is at the other end of its precessional swing, contact is made with stationary point 26. The diiierentpositions of the gyroscope therefore, furnish a ready and reliable means which indicates the condition of roll or the ship, i. e., whether or not rolling is present and its velocity and direction.

In order to synchronize the revolution of the car with the roll of the ship, "for either stabilizing or rolling, it is not only necessary that the car be controlled from the gyroscope, but it is also necessary that the control be such that it is difierent for different positions of the car in its circular path. In other words, l find desirable to interconnect the control gyroscope and car, for unless the car is in the proper position around its track with relation to the condition of the gyroscope that time, the cars rate of revolution should be varied to speedily bring it in the proper phase relation with the gyroscope and hence in the proper phase relation with the ship. I. therefore provide a series of annular contacts or trolley wires 27 in all. ltien to the wires already described. Using a transverse axis 65 of the ship as a center line, the contact segments are separated into two parts. Each part is shown as comprising tour wires, 28, 29, 30 and 31, the two parts being separated by dead sections or gaps. Also, each wire 31 is divided into two parts a. and Z) (6/ and b) separated at the tore and aft line of the ship by a dead "ion or gap of variable length, i. e., wires and Z), and a and Z) may be adjusted tol d away from each other to suit the The car itself is provided with brackets 32 and 32 on each side e inner one (for instance) controlley thereof, th tact-ing with the wires 13, ll, 15 and 16, and the outerone with the wires 28, 29, SO

and 31. Said trol ey bracket is shown as comprising a base 33 having upwardly extending arms 84:, 35, each of which rotatably carries a pair of trolley wheels 36 and 37. The whole trolley carriage is held on the wires pa tly by its weight and partly by the tension spring 88. The gyro contacts in ation with the wire sectors 28, 29, 30

operate to control the speed of the Said motor as shown in the wiring i of the compound type having a ti es iiel-u. 38 and a shunt field 89. The atter has one or more taps l0 and ll brougnt ut so that when the whole shunt field, i. e., rom points to is in circuit, the motor ns at low speed, while when only that ortion or the tield between points ll and il is used, the motor runs at normal speed, and when only that portion of the field between point a0 and il is used, the motor runs at high speed. The trolleys on bracket 32 are used to bridge the adjacent pair of wires 28 and 29, and 30 and 31 as illustrated in the diagram by cross brushes 3'? and 36. For controlling the motor from these two control i. e., the gyroscope and the position of the car on the track, I have shown a series otf contactors. 51, 52, 53, 5d and 55. Contactors to 1 5 inclusive are or" the normally a are held open by gravity or 50 in the open position, as shown .1 no current is on and are closed by the shown, while windings 61, Si

- preparatory to rolling back.

excitation of their solenoids, while contactor 51 is of the normally closed type, so that when no current is on, it is closed.

In addition, I provide a double acting relay 56 with a pivoted armature 63 having moving contacts 57, 58, thereon adapted to be brought into contact with stationary points 57, 58. Said relay is of the two position type, or in other words, either one or the other of said pair of contacts is normally closed. Each magnet 59, 60 of the relay is provided with a pair of windings (31, 62, 61, 62, windings 62, 62 being in series with the adjacent contact point (57 or 58) as are operated from the control points 26 and 2-6 respectively on the gyroscope. Either winding of each pair is of sufficient strength to hold the contact closed and the other magnet being of the same strength cannot move the pivoted arm 63 of the relay (because of the large air gap) until the holding magnet is deenergized,

To understand the operation of the wiring system so far described, assume that the car is rotating as shown by the arrow in Fig. 6 and is in the position A-A. Assume also that the ship has reached the end of a roll in one direction with the car on the high side of the ship and the ship has just come to rest The control gyro therefore will just have moved (under the influence of springs 20, 21) the contact arm 24 away from contact point 26, (say) contact point26havingalreadyenergizedeoil (S of the relay and therefore with contact points 58, 58 closed. Under such conditions,

the weight is evidently lagging, since it should have reached or just passed the fore and aft line, 3 i. e., it should be in the dead section between 6 and a. he speed of the motor therefore should be increased. in this condition, the trolleys 3. and 36 span the c 28 and 29 and also the wires 30 and 31. i with trolley 24 in contact with the sector on the control gyroscope causes contactors 55, 53 and 52 to operate. To follow the circuit through, start with the negative side of the control switch 105 to the moving contact 24 of the control gyro, the contact 25 and. the operating coil of contactor 55 to the positive side of the control switch. Every time therefore that the moving contact 24 of the control gyro touches sector 25, contactor 55 closes the line from the positive side to wire and sectors 30. From sector 30 the current is carried by the spanning trolleys to the wire 31, and thence by line 31 to the coils of contactors 53 and 52, through the trolleys 87 spanning wires 28, 29, through the relay 56 and returning to the control switch on the negative side. The closing of contactor short circuits the section of the shunt field winding of'the motor between points 40 and 42, thus increasing its speed. The increased speed will be maintained even though the car reaches the dead sector between a and b and even though the ship starts to roll back for the following reason. As the roll of the ship starts back, the control gyroscope will cause the trolley 24 to leave the sector 25 and touch contact 26, causing contactor to open and killing section wire 30. However, when contactor 53 closed, it provided another path for the current that continues to energize the coils of contactors 53 and 52 holding them until the trolleys 37 leave the wires at their end near the transverse line of the ship.

Now let us assume that under the same conditions of the ship and gyro as aforementioned, that the car has reached the position BB at the time the ship has reached its ma imum roll. In other words, the car has 1d into the dead section between wires 5 .d a. In this position the circuit between EmCtOl'S 30 and 31 is broken and therefore, neither contactor 51 or 52 will operate, so that the motor will run at normal speed with the section of field between 41 and 44 in circuit, as contactor 51 is of the normally closed type. Now suppose under the same conditions of roll and the same position of the gyroscope, the car has reached the position C. Under these conditions, evidently the car is ahead of the position it should be in,

so that the motor should be slowed down. 7

Following the circuits through as before, it will be found that the contactor 51 is now open by reason of the excitation of wire 31, so that full field is given the motor.

No matter in what position the contactors are when the trolley wheels 36 and 87 leave the trolley wires, at the dead section adjacent the transverse line of the ship, the holding coils G2 or 62 of the relay will be deenergized, since the contact arm 24 of the control gyroscope is normally in contact with pin 26 or 26, dependent upon in which direction the ship is rolling. Coil 61 for instance is therefore energized, so that upon killing of coil. 62, the arm 63 will flop over opening contacts 58, 58 and closing contacts 57, 57. The contactswill then be in condition for repeating the aforementioned cycle on the complementary portion of the roll, i. e., with the car in the upper half of the circular path indicated in Fig. 6.

Other apparatus as shown in the wiring diagram is as follows: represents a starting rheostat for the car, while 71 is a variable resistance for altering the normal speed of the car. It will be understood that the normal speed of the car is adjusted by the operator so that the period of revolution of the car will be the same as the normal period of roll of the ship, thereby requiring minimum operationof th contactor circuits and field control. A ships normal period however varies with its lead and distribution of load. Especially is this true in oil burners where the fuel is usually carried in the compartment between the ships bottoms. VJhen such a ship starts on a voyage, the period is much slower than when nearing the end of the voyage, due to the consumption of the great quantity of oil stored in the bottom of the ship. The adjustable rheostat then may be used to vary the period of the car to suit the altered conditions of the ship.

The solenoid 72 in the main circuit is employed to release the clasp brake 73 2 and on the brake drum 78 on the shaft 107 of the motor 7. Said brake is normally held applied by strong springs 74 and 75, but when current is flowing through the motor, the solenoid T2 draws inwardly the two cores "2'6 and 77 thereby rotating the levers 7 8, T8 pivoted at 7 9, 79, to release the brake shoes. At 80 in Fig. 6 is shown a reversing swi ch placed between the control gyroscope and the relay 56. This switch is to reverse the relation between the control gyroscope and the car so that the car may be used either for stabiliz the ship or for rolling the same. In sit.- event, it will be understood that the car is used to apply rolling torques on the ship, the only difference being that when stabilizing the ship such-torques are in a direction to oppose the rolling momentof the ship, while whe rolling the ship, they are in such a direction as to aid the rolling moments of the ship. Thus, as explained above, when stabilizing the s ip and with the ship rolling about the fore and aft axis 3 in a direction to bring the left half of the circles in Fig. 6 upwardly out of the plane of the paper, the car should be to the left of line 3, so that the weight thereof is opposing the direction of roll of the ship. On the other hand, if the weight were being used to roll the ship, it should be at 180 to said po sition, in other words, so that its weight would tend to increase the roll. it is therefore apparent that all that need be done to convert the apparatus "from a stabilizer to a rolling device is to reverse the relation between the control gyroscope and the car that they are placed at 180 to the existing phase relation. it will also be understood that, if necessary, the car may be placed by manual regulation in or near its proper quadrant to start the device functioning properly.

The character or" the revolving weight and its method of mounting of course may. be va ried widely. in Fig. 7, for instance, I show method of mounting the weight which in some respects is superior to the method shown in the preceding figures. According to this modification, l pivotally mount on the vertical transverse center line 85 of theship a carriage 86. As shown, said carriage is made up of an open framework of bars 98 and 99 which is pivoted between the decks 8. and 88 in heavy bearings 89 and 90. The carriage is shown as extending principally to one side of the center line of the ship, and supported above and below at its outer end on circular tracks 91 and 92,- the carriage being provided with rollers 93, 93 resting between said traclrways. The motor 7 for rotating the carriage ma be in all respects similar to motor 7 and controlled in the same way. Said motor 7 is shown as geared through reduction gears 9i to pinion 95 which meshes with annular rack 96 nounted adjacent the rail 91.

This form of the invention also furnishes a possibility of varying the impressed mements on the ship to suit the sea conditions or the loading oi the ship. For this purpose I movably mount within the hollow frame 86 car 95. Said car is shown provided with flanged wheels 98" below the same and 97 above the same which rest on the upper and lower pairs of E bars 98 and 99 forming the framework. The position of said car within said revolving frame may be controlled by a second motor 100, which is shown as-geared to radr 101 through suitable reduction gears 102 and pinion 103. It will be understood that solenoid brakes similar to brake 73 oi motor 7 may be provided both for motor 7 and for motor 100, the brakes for these motors be g illustrated respectively at 72 and To. e motor 100 may be either manually or automatically controlled by any suitable form of controller (not shown) so that the position of the car within the frame may be varied at the will of the operator. The curi or both motors may be led in through a suitable series of slip rings a and 6 which correspond to track and trol ey G, 13, 1a, and 16. Fig. 6, while the control sectors 27 may be suitably placed around the upper pivot, t'or instance.

By he above arrangement, the stabilizing moment may be varied from maximum to zero by moving in and out the car 95 without disturbing the regular revolution of the frame a whole.

stabilizing moment the sea conditions v time, it may becom i this moment automati under some conditio i though the svi ch 80 is set ti position.

In order to determine whether it i. the waves that are rolling the ship or the stabilizer, e., whwhor the roll due to over or under stabilization, I prefer to make use of a physical law of apparatus of this characte= that when the apparatus exerting g force on the ship, it reouires very little power to operate because the car or weight is either t' velling on a level track or continually travelling down an incline, the inclination of which is dependent upon the amplitude of roll. in other words, the ship is doing the work on the weight, railing it down hill from the high side of the ship to the low side continually. On the other hand, when the weight is rolling the ship, it must travel continually up an incline, since at that time it is the weight which is doing thework upon the ship and not the waves.

For the purpose specified, 1 may employ the means shown in Fig. 11 for varying the rolling torque exerted by the gyroscope, which is designed to cooperate with the form of apparatus disclosed in Figs. 7, 8, and 9. It will be understood that this diagram concerns only the means for varying the stabilizing moment and is employed in practice in conjunction with the general lay-out of Fig. 6.

In addition to the master control gyroscope 17, I may provide an additional control gyroscope 170, which is used to determine the amplitude of roll. If the vessel rolls within small angles, i. e., at low velocity, the gyro contact 124 will not come in contact with points 126 or 127', since the centralizing springs 120 on this gyroscope are much stiffer than on the control gyroscope 17. If on the other hand, the ship rolls through a larger angle. i. e. at greater Velocity, contact will be completed between point 12 on the gyroscope and points 126 and 127, to cause an increase in the stabilizing moment exerted, as will be hereinafter explained.

In a diagram, the motor for rotating the mass as a whole will be recognized at 7 and the control rheostats therefor at and 71 as before. The motor for causing the weight 95 to travel in and out radially within the frame 99 is shown at 100, said motor having a separately excited field 100. In the armature circuit of the motor 7 which rotates the entire framework, are a pair of contacts 200, 201. These contactors determine whether the motor is taking a large or a small amount of current; in other words, whether or not the mass is travelling up hill or down as explained above. The third contactor 202 is operated from the contacts 120 and 127 on the gyroscope 170. Said contactor 202 is preferably provided with a dash pot 203 so that its return to open position is retarded, i. e., it will stay closed for a predetermined period after deenergization. The contacts control auxiliary relays 204i and 205 which operates the swit ihes 206 and 207 to close the armature circuit of the motor 100 in one direction or the other, to drive the car 95 toward or away from the center line of the ship.

To illustrate the operation of the apparatus described, assume that the frame is revolving in proper synchronism with the vessels roll and that the weight isat about the central position on the frame. Let us then suppose that a series of waves strike the ship which arebeyond the capacity of the stabilizing moment and result in setting up a marked rollii'r'g of the ship. Up to that time we will assume that the stabilizer has been holding the roll down to a minimum so that the weight has been travelling on a substantially level track or slightly down hill. IVhen however, the rolls increase as above stated, the angle of descent of the car will be greatly ncreased. This will result simultaneously in a reduction in the amount of current flowing through the motor 7 and also in the completion of the contacts 124, 126 and 127 of the control gyro 170.

As contactor 200 is set to operate when the current tails below a certain amount, both contactors 200 and 202 will close, thereby coinpleting the circuit to relay 205 and driving the motor further from the center line of the ship, thus increasing the torque exerted thereby. As the weight moves out, greater moments are developed and gradually the large swings of the control gyroscope will be reduced, until the contacts 126 and 127 are no longer made. Contactor 202 will therefore open causing the weight to stop. Contactor 200 will also open as the current requirements of motor 7 increase. It will be understood of course, that. motor 100 is geared so as to move the weight comparatively slowly and is )rovided with the usual cut-out and safety switches (not shown), to bring the car to rest when it reaches the end of the frame in either direction.

If now the wave moments become still smaller with the weight in this position and the vessel begins to roll under the influence of the weight, rather than from the waves, the revolving arm 86 will as explained above, start to travel up an incline, thereby greatly increasing the amount of current required by the motor 7. This will cause the contactor 201 to close, which will cause the winding 20% to close switch 206, thereby operating the motor 100 in the opposite direction, bringing the car toward the center of the ship until themoments due to weight 95 decrease and the motor amperage becomes normal again.

In aocordancewith the provisions of the patent statutes, I have herein described the principle of operation of my invention, to-

gether with the apparatus, which I now consider to represent the best embodimentthereof, but I desire to have it understood that 'l the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means. Also, while it is designed to use the various features and elements in the combination and relations described, some of these may be altered and others omitted wi thout interfering with the more general results outlined, and the invention extends to such use;

Having herein described my invention,

what I claim and Patent is,

1. A device for exerting rolling torques on ships including a car, a substantially, circular trackway therefor, and means for cans desire to secure byLetters ing the car to revo ve around the track in synchronism with the ships roll.

2. A device for exerting rolling torques on ships including a car movable back and forth across the ship, and means for causing the car to revolve in a closed path to oppose the rolling impulses of the Waves.

3. A stabilizing device for ships including a mass, means for rotatably mounting the san e for movement back and forth across the ship, and means for causing said mass to revolve in propersynchronism With the ships roll.

4. A device for exerting rolling torques on ships comprising a car movable back and forth across the ship, a gyroscope, means for mounting the same for precession on roll of the ship, and means controlled by the precession of sad gyroscope for governing the movements of said car.

5. A device for exerting rolling torques on ships comprising a mass movable back and forth across the ship, a gyroscope mounted for prec ssion on roll of the ship and means controlled by said gyroscope for governing the movements of said mass.

6. A device for exerting rolling torques on ships comprising a mass continuously movable in a closed path across the ship, a gyroscope and means controlled by the relative position of said gyroscope and of the mass in its path of travel for governing the rate of movement of said mass. 7

'KA ship stabilizer comprising a mass, a track therefor, m ans for revolving the same around the track, contact sectors for altering the speed of the car at spaced points in its path of movement and means responsive to the roll of the ship for energizing said sectors. 7

8. A ship stabilizer comprising a mass, a track therefor, means for revol 'ing the same around the track, contact sectors for altering the speed of the car at spaced points in its path of movement and means responsive to the roll of the ship for energizing said sectors to cause acceleration or retardation of the mass according to its position on the track.

5). A device for exert-ing rolling torques on ships including a car, a substantially circular traclrway therefor, a variable speed motor for driving the same and means responsive .jointly to the ships roll and 'he position of the car on the track for maintaining the revolution of the car in synchronism with the ships roll.

10. A stabilizing device for ships including a mass, means for rotatably mounting the same for movement back and forth across the ship and means for altering the radius of movement of said nass to vary the moments impressed thereby on the ship.

11. A stabilizing device for ships including mass, means for rotatably mounting the same for movement back and forth across the ship, means for altering the radius of movement of said mass and means for causing said mass to rotate in the proper synchronism with the ships roll.

12. A stabilizing device for ships including a mass, means for rotatably mounting the same for movement back and forth across the ship, and means responsive to the amplitude of the ships roll for altering the radius of movement of said mass to vary the moments impressed thereby on the ship.

13. A stabilizing device for ships including a mass, means for rotatably mounting the same for movement back and forth across the ship, means responsive to the amplitude of the ships roll for altering the radius of movement of said mass and means for causing said mass to rotate in the proper synchronism with the ships roll.

i l. A device for exerting rolling torques on a ship comprising a car continuously movable in a closed path across the ship, means for accelerating and braking the car, a control gyroscope, and a controller governed jointly by said gyroscope and the position of the car in its path of travel for governing said accelerating and braking means.

15. In a ship stabilizer, means for exerting rolling torques on the ship, means for causing said torques to be applied to oppose the ships roll and means responsive to whether the roll of the sl ip'is caused by the vvaves or by said named means for varying the torque applied by said first named means.

16. A stabilizin device for ships including a mass, means I01 mounting the same for movement back and forth across the shi means for detecting whether the roll of the ship is due to under or over stabilization and cans responsive to said last named means for altsing the path of movement of said mass to vary the moments impressed thereby on the ship.

17. A stabilizing device for ships including a mass, means for rotatably mounting the same for movement back and forth across the ship, means for detecting Whether the roll of the ship is due to under or over stabilization, means responsive to said last named means for altering the radius of movement of said mass and means for causing said mass to rotate in the proper synchronism with the ships roll.

18. In a ship stabilizer, means for exerting rolling torques on the ship, means for causin said torques to be applied to oppose the ship's roll, control means responsive to the amplitude of the ships roll, other control meiins adapted to detect Whether the roll is due to under or over stabilization, and means governed by both of said control meansfor varying the torque applied by said first named means.

19. A ship stabilizer comprising a mass, a track therefor, means for driving the same back and forth across the ship on the track, contact sectors for altering the speed of the car at spa cc points in its path of movement and means responsive to the roll of the ship for energizing said sectors.

20. A ship stabilizer comprising a mass, a track therefor, means for driving the same back and forth across the ship on the track, contact sectors tor altering the speed of the car at spaced points in its path of movement and means responsive to the roll of the ship for energizing said sectors to cause acceleration or retardation of the mass according to its position on the track.

21. A device for exerting rolling torques on ships including a car, a trackivay therefor, a variable speed motor for driving the same and means responsive jointly to the ships rol and the position of the car on the track for maintaining the motion of the car in synchronism With. the ships roll.

22. A ship stabilizer comprising a track Way extending across the ship, a car mounted thereon, motive means for propelling the car, braking means for the car, and means for governing said motive and braking means including a gyroscope responsive to the ships roll.

23. A ship stabilizer comprising a car, means for mounting the same for movement back and for h across the ship, a gyroscope, the extent of procession of which is responsive to the velocity of the roll of the ship, and means controlled by the extent of precession oi. said gyroscope for varying the extent of travel of the car across the ship.

2%. A ship stabilizer comprising a car, means for mounting the same for movement back and forth across the ship, means for detecting when the ship ceases to do Work on the car, and means responsive to said last named means for decreasing the extent of travel of the car across the ship.

25. A stabilizin or rolling device for ships com 'irising a carriage revolulole in a normally horizontal plane, a heavy mass movable along said carriage tor exerting torques on the ship as the carriage is revolved, and gyroscopie means for revolving said carriage and adjusting the position oil: said mass along the carriage.

26. A stabilizing or rolling device for ships comprising a carriage rotatable in a normally horizontal plane, a heavy mass movable along said carriage for exerting torques on the ship, and gyroscopic means for controlling the movement of said carriage and the relative movement of the mass thereon for exerting the proper stabilizing moments on the ship.

27. A ship stabilizer having a carriage revolnble about a fixed axis, a heavy mass carried by the carriage and movable radially thereon, an electric motor on said carriage In testimony'yvhereof I have aflixed my signature,

SHIERFIELD e. MYERS. 

